As we all know from personal pain at the pump, gasoline prices have skyrocketed and it is unclear when driving Californians will begin to see relief at the pump. I recently spoke with a friend who lives in Florida, and the price that she pays for a gallon of gas is about 10 percent less than I do, which caused me to wonder why there would be such a disparity. About this time I had a chat with longtime FR reader Larry Venus, who had done some research and pointed out to me that California motorists currently pay an average of 7.9 percent sales tax per gallon! Well, it doesn’t take much thought to realize that if the state’s tax on gasoline is not a flat dollar amount, but rather a percentage, that the amount of taxes on $5 a gallon has is a whole lot more than taxes on a $2 gallon. Actually, getting out the FlashCalc, by my reckoning, when gas was a couple of bucks a gallon, I paid 15 cents per gallon in taxes. Using a $5 per gallon figure for comparison (even though I am starting to forget when gas was that cheap), my tax liability per gallon is a staggering $37 cents. This kind of tax is insidious, making us pay more… Read More

I’m on my Southwest flight, preparing to fly from Sacramento back home to Orange County. It was a jammed pack few days, filled with a ton of meetings with legislative and administration officials, and opportunities to attend some great events, including a reception last night at the California Chamber headquarters where Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines celebrated the end of a successful multi-day candidate training for all of the 2008 GOP Assembly nominees.

As for the plane rule (that’s the one that says you can’t fly to or from Sacramento without seeing someone you know), I’m joined on this flight by Republican State Senator Dave Cox and his wife.

Wheels up!… Read More

It was actually a pretty busy week back here in DC. Here is a quick rundown (of course with my short editorial comments) on some of the things we did and/or learned this week.

A bill HR 6346 came to the floor that would have started new proceedings regarding alleged price gouging in the price of gas. This in spite of the fact that all previous investigations have turned up nothing and that the increase in the price of gas is because of the increase in the price of oil. The bill failed to pass. We cannot sue our way into lower gas prices. One other bill (HR 6052) was brought to the floor supposedly to deal with high gas prices. This bill would create subsidies for only federal employees to take public transportation to work. Are you kidding me? While everyone is struggling with high energy prices and a tough economy we are going to give more subsidies to government bureaucrats and only government bureaucrats? The bill passed 322-98. That’s it on the energy front. To see the wide array of actions I think we should be doing, go to my new Energy Page. … Read More

The Secretary of State has just released the number assignents for the 11 Propositions that are currently certified for the November ballot. Secretary Bowen has started em out with number one instead of picking up after Prop 99. I won’t list all of them here, check em out on the Sec of State website. Most notable will be:

Proposition 8-California Protection of Marriage Act, titled as Limit On Marriage-to continue as being between one man and one woman

Proposition 1-High Cost Rail, titled as, get this, The Safe Reliable High Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century…no mention of what happens in the 22nd Century, or that maybe only 80 years will be left of the 21st by the time it got built

Proposition 4-Sarah’s Law, titled as Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination Of Minor’s Pregnancy

Proposition 11-Redistricting-Constitutional Amendment and Statute-14 member commission to draw district lines which includes Assembly, State Senate and Board of Equalization Districts, not Congress.… Read More

Today Senator John McCain has endorsed the Protect Marriage Initiative that will appear on the November ballot. His statement…

“I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions.”

This will present an important contrast between McCain and Barack Obama in the Fall. There is no way that Obama will support this measure given his ultra-liberal supporters here in California.… Read More

With a link to the docs…. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upholds the Second Amendment:

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ET AL. v. HELLER

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

No. 07-290. Argued March 18, 2008-Decided June 26, 2008

District of Columbia law bans handgun possession by making it a crime to carry an unregistered firearm and prohibiting the registration of handguns; provides separately that no person may carry an unlicensed handgun, but authorizes the police chief to issue 1-year licenses; and requires residents to keep lawfully owned firearms unloaded and dissembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device. Respondent Heller, a D. C. special policeman, applied to register a handgun he wished to keep at home, but the District refused. He filed this suit seeking, on Second Amendment grounds, to enjoin the city from enforcing the bar on handgun… Read More

Four years ago I got a call asking if I would speak to some high school students at the RNC Convention in New York City. The caller told me I would be on a panel with Mike McCurry, President Clinton’s press Secretary. Immediately I was worried that this panel was mismatched.

The group was the Junior Statesman Symposium at the RNC. The Junior Statesman Foundation is the partner to the Junior State. The Junior State is a non-partisan, student-run civic education organization. It was started in California seventy-four years ago but has since been formed in other states.

The Foundation supports the activities of the Junior State and conducts several summer school programs at prestigious campuses like Stanford, Georgetown, and Yale. They also offer several week-long programs that encourage civic responsibility among high achieving high school students.

I had the chance to go to the Summer School programs at UC Davis (now at Stanford) and Georgetown when I was 25 years younger and 200 pounds lighter. I can say it changed my life.

They have added the weeklong symposium at both the RNC and DNC Conventions. This is the… Read More

San Franciscans are infamous for their “creative” ways of demonstrating their liberal/socialist ideology. But I think this time they’ve gone too far. The International Herald Tribune is reporting that there is a group of citizens campaigning to place a measure on the ballot renaming the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the “George W. Bush Sewage Plant.”

The “Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco” came up with their idea in the place where all truly brilliant ideas are birthed: a local bar. Not only is this proposal completely disrespectful to the office of the President of the United States, it is a waste of taxpayer money. For all its claims to be the international city of “tolerance,” San Francisco isn’t sending a very tolerant message about President Bush and his administration.

Regardless of your political opinion of any given president, the office they represent should not become the object of… Read More